Libya Intelligence at Helm of Political Showdown

12/4/2012 9:34AM

The intelligence summary given to U.N. envoy Susan Rice in TV appearances five days after the attack in Libya was the fruit of a cautious process that had the effect of watering down the U.S.'s own intelligence. Siobhan Gorman reports. Photo: NBC.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... the the ... some career intelligence officials were just fueling ... the U N Ambassador Susan Rice dimensional cute when she discussed the attacks in Gaza in September ... they were aware of the extremely extensive vetting process that happen behind the scenes before this race was given her talking points ... Wall Street Journal reporter Siobhan Gorman Adventists are now published in extensive detail what was going on ... to the now joins us from Washington forty seven ... when they do it a bit thinking right now this is a great long story from from page one the Journal today and is so ... first of all Leslie though the lately though ... the landscape your for the controversy ... for my people basically Republicans are thinking that maybe the Obama administration play politics not reaching out a gap ... in ... the talking points that mean that the July at the Antietam Venice issues handling at their home and caught the eye that aftermath ... has looked a little bit with us and the election was a shift ... is starting to produce runs in testimony today now ... that I'm ... former CA director David betray us he said Congress a couple weeks after the election saying ... that indeed the talking points that were initially drafted from lawmakers by this EIA ... I had in earlier versions mentioned that the extremists who carried out the attacks had ties to al Qaeda ... and that al Qaeda out and went at it out ... buying ... he I cannot say that the building he got into great detail instead ... they ended up in the process ... so the reporting that sound ... good this EIA when is the ... agency that had edited out al Qaeda and so we tried to do ... was go through the timeline of editing and that ... leads to better understand ... when you get the kind of changes for me and what organizations were taking on a role in making the changes before we get to that let's let's go through ... quickly he just remind everyone of these extent these ... talking points ... the currently available information suggests ... that the demonstrations and then got C were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U S Embassy in Cairo ... and evolved into a direct assault against the U S diplomatic post in God see ... and subsequently its Enix ... there are indications that extremists participated in the violent demonstrations ... this assessment may change as additional information is collected and analyzed ... additional information was additionally weighed was indeed collect and analyze in a walk back on our that ... yet a CA I've been noticing that her ... that that that the bank got a taxpayer book out of the protest ... was I was on the day ... and all in it not ... been very first reports its EIA had actually the ones in the days that followed ... based on on the ground reporting and dead and that the intelligence picture I model for about a week or so after the attack and it was an answer ... said ten twenty a bit this EIA actually encourages positioning concluded there had been ... no protested and on the Helena with a very tempting to say they still believe that the attack and I was in part inspired by the protests that happening in Cairo were actually protesting the anti Islam ... and location I let's talk a little bit about what was happening behind the scenes because for instance ... it sounds like ... we came to the reference about Katie in those talking with the fact it was gone ... that ... put people in this EIA itself ... wanted that reference for moves ... yet and everything is I am and they actually ... occurred ... to me with any intelligence agencies particularly when trying to figure out what information she was ... de classify and there are lots of debates that the Irish ... and the public purse and believed that would have to understand and have to do with ... whether or not increases over classified by the Central intelligence Agency had that basically this was a bureaucratic back and forth between this EIA where they were deciding well what information do we ay ay ay are weaker customer would really see her play at this point ... and they were taking a number of factors into consideration ... in deciding not to ... be ok to represent the weights on it seems like Billy to primary one was that those leagues have really been confirmed yet at the time and so while ... the intelligence officials believe that they seem to relate to how high ... it may well have been that it would impact at all this extra ... I explanation in June the talking points that could have been misconstrued and created more questions and confusion ... I and in what was already a pretty confusing situation in addition there was a strong desire not to prejudice the eye and that when a new FBI investigation ... and are also concerns that the information about al Qaeda links and write from ... by sources that was intercepted conversations and they were worried it might ... jeopardize those those sources and for me so are we making a mountain out of the old mill here ... in the sense that ... really what this was in essence a small fire fight ... in in band Ozzie ... and it's it's kind of been fairly difficult to know what actually was happening ... what you make of of the of the idea that that maybe it was impossible and were probably hanging too much ... on this particular incident and subsequent description of it ... in particular I mean ... the attack was actually quite created ... identity furry hat and I'm just you know ... there were two before the election and he he he he major issue that Republicans are trying to use to criticize him on a new station which had ... I certainly ... bolstered you use that the president's I'm high national security reasons ... I you know it's his argument for why should he be elected and so have had it not happen right before election day we might not have seen so much lamenting over a ... Wednesday interesting and a little bit surprising is that ... how much I haven't we heard about it I in terms of the Republican criticism since the election and I you know were were now seeing it may well spill over into ... the president's nomination nominee ... for Secretary of State because ... he certainly ... believed to be strongly considering Susan Rice's as as a baby can ... take that position has remained well that's it spill over into that that nominee for C I a director as well so ... I mean you look at the facts ... we definitely see ... a set of talking points that were put together ... a ... prickly although somewhat deliberate care they deliberately ICA and headed for ... a lot of reasons that they would normally added talking points and I'm the and ... since I ... officers as well as ... some lawmakers late that you are critical lawmaker who requested that are in place ... and really taken aback that the focus there has been put on this public statement is higher than ... the public statement ... is not the same thing and that overall it ministrations II intelligence case for a particular situation ... that has been provided ... by the energy to lawmakers on Capitol or that I'm a God is that the type of ... ministry spokesman Sean Gorman thanks so much for joining this morning ... they get ... and for much more there is any ... break very long story ... in ... one very long been very detailed in one or read if you wanna know all the D tells of what happened behind the scenes ... as ... the intelligence he